by Daniel Youngblood

SIX-MAN REWIND: Area action heats up and regular season nears its midpoint

It’s hard to believe, but the regular season is almost halfway over, and the best teams in the area and state are starting to separate themselves across all levels of high school football.

The six-man scene is certainly no exception, and Week 5 was a particularly enlightening one, as it was full of both marquee matchups and thrilling results.

As we do each week, it’s time to take a look back at the biggest developments in our “Six-Man Rewind” column. We hope you enjoy our recap of Week 5 and encourage you to check out our Six-Man/Class 1A Central page for more information on your favorite team(s).

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by Evan Ren

BIG COUNTRY PREPS PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Graham QB Corley takes this week’s top honor

A week ago, Graham senior quarterback Cooper Corley narrowly missed taking our Big Country Preps Player of the Week award.  
 
This time around, there was no stopping him.  

Corley, who led the Steers to a 48-21 win over Peaster, hit 16 of 27 throws for 307 yards and two TDs.  

He also rushed 12 times for 132 yards and four more scores and caught a 29-yard TD pass for seven touchdowns on the night.  

“Very rarely do you see a kid total 7 TDs in a night and score in three different ways,” Graham coach Clay McChristian said. “He scored at least one touchdown passing, rushing, and receiving.

“That is right at 1000 total yards and 13 TDs in the last two weeks against two quality opponents.” 

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by Daniel Youngblood

DISTRICT 2-5A DI WEEK 5 REPORT: Abilene High rallies past LHS; Amarillo High, Tascosa, Monterey also victorious

Abilene High 31, Lubbock High 7 — Boss Hines ran for 180 yards and two touchdowns to lead a 346-yard rushing effort for the Eagles, who rallied from a 7-3 halftime deficit to roll through the Westerners.

Abilene High, which allowed a kickoff return touchdown just before halftime to go the break trailing, scored two touchdowns in each of the final two periods to improve to 2-2 overall and 1-0 in district play.

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by Daniel Youngblood

DISTRICT 2-5A DII WEEK 5 REPORT: Cooper, Wylie open district with comfortable wins; Palo Duro blasts Legacy

Abilene Cooper 49, Wichita Falls Memorial 28 — Markquel Sims ran for 129 yards and two touchdowns, and Jamarion Dunson ran for three touchdowns and added a fourth score receiving to lead the Cougars to thorough victory over the Mavericks in the district opener for both teams.

The game featured four ties — the last at 28-all early in the fourth quarter — but Cooper (3-2, 1-0) closed the game with 21 unanswered points to close out the victory.

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by Daniel Youngblood

DISTRICT 8-2A DII WEEK 5 REPORT: Santo rallies to beat Crawford; Mart, Hubbard also open league play with wins

rioSanto 28, Crawford 10 — Trailing 10-0 after a quarter, the Wildcats closed the game with four unanswered touchdowns to kick off district play with a key win over the Pirates.

Led by Rylan Griffith (8-10-0—71, 1 TD passing; 13-47 rushing), Colt Howry (7-98, 1 TD rushing) and Wyatt Reed (3-46, 2 TDs receiving), Santo (4-1, 1-0) outgained Crawford 382-198, including a 293-161 advantage on the ground.

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by Daniel Youngblood

DISTRICT 7-2A DI WEEK 5 REPORT: Coleman, Bangs, San Saba and Mason close nondistrict play with wins

Coleman 52, Eldorado 20 — Hunter Edington passed for 241 yards and three touchdowns, and Chantz Adams ran for 184 yards and four scores to lead the Bluecats to a blowout win over the Eagles.

Jayden Smith was Coleman’s leading receiver with 70 yards and a TD as the Bluecats () increased a 28-14 halftime lead to 40-20 by the start of the fourth quarter.

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by Daniel Youngblood

DISTRICT 4-2A DI WEEK 5 REPORT: Forsan, Ballinger, Sonora open league play with impressive wins

Forsan 46, Ozona 22 — Owen Bishop passed for 207 yards and three touchdowns, and Ashton Ellis ran for 112 yards and two scores and received for 62 yards and another TD to help the Buffaloes pull away for a lopsided win over the Lions.

Coy Evans added 91 yards and a TD receiving for Forsan (5-0, 1-0), which got pick-sixes on defense from Kalen Kemper and Matthew Blakeney.

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by Daniel Youngblood

DISTRICT 5-3A DII WEEK 5 REPORT: Tolar, Hamilton pick up victories as district race remains wide open

Tolar 42, Comanche 24 — Trailing 17-7 midway through the second quarter, the Rattlers rallied to take a 28-24 lead into halftime before dominating the second half to pull away from the Indians for a three-score win.

The victory, which improved Tolar (2-3 overall) to 1-1 in district play, saw the Rattlers limit Comanche to 338 total yards in pitching a second-half shutout.

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by Evan Ren

DISTRICT 3-2A DII WEEK 5 REPORT: Roscoe, Crosbyton both score wins

Roscoe 72, Olney 22 — Kash Hope had 103 yards receiving for two TDs, two interceptions with one pick six, and two kickoff returns for 68 yards (one for a TD) as Roscoe picked up its first win of the season. 

The Plowboys (1-4) scored 25 more points in this game than in their previous four games combined (47).

They will now enjoy and open date before opening district play with Ralls on Oct. 9.

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by Daniel Youngblood

DISTRICT 3-3A DII WEEK 5 REPORT: Coahoma bottled up by Wink; Stanton takes week off

Wink 36, Coahoma 13 — Layne Lusby passed for 195 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 164 yards and two more scores to fuel the undefeated Wildcats to a comfortable win over the Bulldogs.

Behind the talented quarterback, Wink outgained Coahoma 481-219, limiting the Bulldogs’ potent rushing attack to just 49 yards on 16 attempts.

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by Evan Ren

DISTRICT 13-4A DII WEEK 5 REPORT: Brownwood, La Vega, Robinson all impressive

Brownwood 42, China Spring, 21 — The up-and-down odyssey of the Brownwood Lions continued on Friday with BHS handing China Spring a convincing loss. 

The Lions, who nearly upset top-ranked Stephenville in Week 2, only to fall to Springtown (54-6) and Graham (64-9), seemed to recover its early season form against China Spring. 

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by Daniel Youngblood

DISTRICT 3-3A DI WEEK 5 REPORT: Early can’t keep pace with De Leon in first loss; Wall rolls past Greenwood

De Leon 51, Early 20 — Lane Couch ran for 167 yards and two touchdowns and Bryce Burkeen received for 148 yards and three TDs to lead the Bearcats to a lopsided win over the Longhorns.

De Leon finished with 496 yards of total offense while limiting Early to 188 in building a 37-7 lead by halftime.

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by Evan Ren

DISTRICT 4-3A DII WEEK 5 REPORT: Merkel, Henrietta, Bowie chalk up wins

Merkel 54, San Angelo TLCA  0 — Easton Malone was 9 of 10 for 139 yards and four TDs and CJ Guadarrama rushed for 52 yards and two more scores as Merkel routed San Angelo TLCA. 

Merkel will have an open date on Friday, after which they will open district play with a road date against Jacksboro on Oct. 9. 

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by Daniel Youngblood

DISTRICT 4-4A DII WEEK 5 REPORT: Graham, Mineral Wells, Brock win comfortably as league goes 4-2

Graham 48, Peaster 21 — Cooper Corley passed for 278 yards and touchdowns and ran for a team-high 132 yards and four scores to lead the undefeated Steers to a blowout win over the Greyhounds.

Dylan Cox added 120 yards on the ground for Graham (5-0), which also got a big day from Brodie Martin (6-147, 2 TDs receiving; 1-1-0—29, 1 TD passing) in increasing a 20-14 halftime lead to 27 points by game’s end.

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by Daniel Youngblood

DISTRICT 2-4A DII WEEK 5 REPORT: Jackson leads Big Spring to first win of Stacey Martin era; Snyder falls to rival

Big Spring 27, San Angelo Lake View 20 (OT) — Javon Jackson passed for one touchdown and ran for two others — the first to tie the game late in the fourth quarter and the second to give his team a lead in overtime — to lift the Steers to their first win of the season and the Stacey Martin era.

Big Spring (1-4) led 7-6 at halftime and 13-6 in the third quarter, before Lake View rallied to take a 20-13 lead on an Isaiah Rivera pick-six with 4:51 remaining in the game. But Jackson leveled the score with a 12-yard TD run with 1:13 to play and busted loose for a 25-yard scoring run on the Steers’ first play of overtime.

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by Evan Ren

DISTRICT 5-4A DII WEEK 5 REPORT: Kemp, Hillsboro both win; Venus comes close to ending losing streak

Waco Robinson 56, Glen Rose 35 — Trailing 28-21 at the break, Robinson exploded with a 35-7 third quarter to take control of the game. 

Judd Connally threw for 246 yards and three scores to lead Glen Rose. But five costly interceptions eventually hurt the Tigers.

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Devan Wright
by Evan Ren

DISTRICT 2-3A DI WEEK 5 REPORT: Clyde, Sweetwater, Odessa Compass are this week’s winners

Clyde 56, Fort Stockton 21 — Devan Wright threw for 301 yards and four scores and rushed for 88 yards and another TD to lead Clyde to an easy win over Fort Stockton (0-5). 

Jonathan White added 151 yards rushing and two more TDs for Clyde, which is off to a 5-0 start. 

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by Evan Ren

DISTRICT 6-2A DII WEEK 5 REPORT: Seymour, Windthorst, Munday post wins in week 5

Seymour 56, Electra 6 — Keaton Anderson threw for 141 yards and two scores and Demarcus Smith rushed for 108 yards and another TD as Seymour improved to 3-2 with its second straight win. 

The Panthers (3-2, 1-0) will play host to Munday (5-0, 1-0) in an important district matchup on Friday.

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by Daniel Youngblood

GAME REPORT: Abilene High bounces back from rough first half to rout Lubbock High 31-7

LUBBOCK — Midway through its District 2-5A Division II opener at Lubbock High, the Abilene High football team found itself down 7-3 — a surprising spot considering the Eagles defeated the Westerners 73-0 in 2025.

But a fast start to the second half put AHS back on top and created a wave of momentum that would eventually carry the Eagles to a comfortable 31-7 win.

The victory improved Abilene High to 2-2 overall and 1-0 in league play heading into a matchup with Amarillo Caprock (1-3, 0-1) next week at Shotwell Stadium.

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by Mike Lee, Special to Big Country Preps

GAME STORY: No. 2 Mason runs over, around Warriors on way to 55-34 win

MASON — In this era of pass-happy offenses, the smashmouth run-oriented Mason Punchers are a throwback to when Texas schoolboy football teams were measured by how well they ran the football.

The throwbacks … or the Punchers, ran very well on Friday night.

Mason seniors Luke Tharp and Slade Buell combined for 585 yards and eight touchdowns rushing as the Class 2A Division I No. 2-ranked Punchers beat the previously undefeated Class 3A DI Ingram Moore Warriors 55-34 at the Puncherdome.

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by Brandon McAuliffe

GAME STORY: Sweetwater dominates all three phases in rivalry win over Snyder

SWEETWATER — Ever since he took over as the head football coach at Snyder 2½ years ago, Anthony Gonzales has wanted to make sure that the Tigers renewed their rivalry game against Sweetwater.

It’s a game that even players have told him during end-of-season interviews that they wanted to play.

For 12 minutes on Friday night at the Mustang Bowl, it appeared as though the 72nd regular season meeting between the teams might be the type of competitive game that would be talked about for years to come.

But the 2026 meeting became more memorable for the Mustang faithful after Sweetwater used a 45-point second quarter to claim an 83-20 homecoming win in a game Snyder led by one after the first quarter.

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by Daniel Youngblood

GAME STORY: Cooper makes statement in district opener with 49-28 win over Wichita Falls Memorial

Facing off with a high-scoring Wichita Falls Memorial squad to open District 2-5A Division II play, Cooper coach Scott Stewart was worried about his Cougars being drawn into a shootout.

And for a little over three quarters Friday night, it looked like that was the direction things were headed.

But after Memorial took advantage of a muffed punt by Cooper to pull even at 28-all with 11:54 remaining in the game, the Coogs took control of the line of scrimmage, the clock and eventually the game, scoring the final 21 points in a 49-28 victory at Shotwell Stadium.

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by Evan Ren

BIG COUNTRY PREPS GAME OF THE WEEK: Wall forces multiple Greenwood mistakes in 31-13 win

WALL — Although the yardage totals were fairly close in Friday’s Big Country Preps Game of the Week, the key play was rather lopsided in Wall’s favor in a win over Midland Greenwood.  

The Hawks dominated in that area, forcing several key Greenwood mistakes, scoring on special teams and even producing a dramatic fourth-quarter strip to save a touchdown in a 31-13 victory at Hawk Stadium. 

Gunner King threw for 206 yards and rushed for 105 more while accounting for three scores to lead Wall (5-0), which overcame an early 7-0 deficit to win its 21st straight game. 

Andrick Rodriguez led Greenwood (3-2) with 215 yards passing and one TD to go with 90 yards rushing.  

“Those guys can play,” Wall coach Craig Slaughter said of Greenwood. “They’re a very good football team and we didn’t play as well as (we can).” 

Each time the chips were down, however, Wall managed to find an answer, with big plays playing a key role in it. 

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by Daniel Youngblood

GAME REPORT: Wylie overcomes disastrous start to rout Coronado in district opener

Photos by Susanna Jackson, HubCityPreps.com

LUBBOCK — Staring at a 13-0 deficit less than four minutes into its District 2-5A Division II opener against Lubbock Coronado, the Wylie football team found itself in a precarious spot Thursday at Lowrey Field.

But 49 unanswered points before halftime changed that in a hurry as the Bulldogs rallied for a resounding 56-20 victory over the Mustangs.

Wylie ran for 298 of its 490 total yards, getting productive days on the ground from Cooper Jones (5-98, 1 TD), Jett Wilson (9-91, 1 TD) and Kory Gibson (12-80) as it improved to 3-2 on the season and 1-0 in district play.

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by Brandon McAuliffe

GAME STORY: Gordon ties Abilene High’s Big Country record with 49th consecutive win

GORDON — Heading into Thursday night’s home game against Stephenville Faith, the Gordon football team found itself with an opportunity to equal Abilene High’s 49-game winning streak from 1954-1957 as the longest in the storied history of the Big Country.

Following a 52-32 win over Stephenville Faith in a game that, unlike most games in the streak, went the distance, the Longhorns will have an opportunity to set the new area benchmark next week at Forestburg.

While the consecutive wins are a major milestone, Gordon coach Mike Reed talked about the legacy his players are set to leave behind.

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by Evan Ren

BIG COUNTRY PREPS GAME OF THE WEEK: Wall plays host to Midland Greenwood (w/ Evan Ren’s Big Country Picks)

LAST WEEK: 48-21, .695
SEASON TOTAL: 213-69, .755

After suffering through one my worst mid-season pick weeks in recent memory (by midseason I’m usually zeroed in), about all I could do was raise my eyebrows, shake my haed and get back to work. 

So here goes nothing:

Our Big Country Preps Game of the Week heads south this Friday to Wall, where the Class 3A Hawks will put their 20-game winning streak on the line against a Class 4A toughie from Midland Greenwood. 

Greenwood enters this game at 3-1 after topping Wichita Falls Legacy in a shootout last week, 43-42. The Rangers have averaged 33 points per game against a difficult schedule and are accustomed to big games, so they won’t enter this intimidated. 

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by Mike Lee, Special to Big Country Preps

MIKE LEE’S WHERE ARE THEY NOW? Former Stephenville kickers making their mark in college

Note: If you know of a former Big Country Prep athlete now performing in college or professional sports, contact Mike Lee at michaellee7@att.net.

Two former Stephenville High School kickers — Diego Chavarria and Cade Whitehead — are handling the main kicking duties for the respective college football teams this season.

Chavarria is in his second season at the University of Texas-Permian Basin, a member of the NCAA Division II and the Lone Star Conference. The Falcons began playing football in 2016. Although the main campus is in Odessa, the Falcons play their home games at Astound Broadband Stadium in Midland.

Whitehead is kicking for Nelson University, a member of the NAIA and the Sooner Athletic Conference. Nelson, located in Waxahachie, was formerly known as Southwestern Assemblies of God, or SAGU.

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by Evan Ren

AREA VOLLEYBALL STATISTICAL LEADERS (Through Sept. 23)

Big Country Preps is publishing area volleyball statistical leaders each Wednesday at 7 p.m. throughout the regular season.

This database will be continually updated for our subscribers throughout the remainder of the season, using only those statistics submitted by area coaches. If your team is missing, please give your coach a friendly reminder to check their email and submit their stats each week by 2 p.m. on Wednesdays. 

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by Daniel Youngblood

GAME STORY: Wylie volleyball rolls past rival Cooper to open District 4-5A play

Hosting crosstown rival Cooper to open District 4-5A play, the Wylie volleyball team kicked off league action in dominant fashion Tuesday, sweeping the Lady Cougars  25-5, 25-12, 25-13 at Bulldog Gym.

It was the 11th consecutive victory and 21st in the last 22 matches for the Lady Bulldogs, who are now 27-4 on the year.

Cooper, which split a pair of five-set matches on Saturday with Brownwood and Midland Lee, fell to 11-18 overall and 0-1 in district play with Tuesday’s loss.

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by Daniel Youngblood

SIX-MAN REWIND: Week 4 full of competitive matchups as landscape continues to take shape

The area six-man season continues to heat up, and Week 4 may have been the most competitive to date.

With a number of thrilling outcomes dotting the slate, there’s no shortage of great games and individual performances to talk about in this week’s “Six-Man Rewind” column.

We hope you enjoy this look back at last week’s action and encourage you to check out our Six-Man/Class 1A Central page for more information on your favorite team(s).

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by Daniel Youngblood

DISTRICT 8-2A DII WEEK 4 REPORT: Santo crushes Roscoe; Mart, Frost also win in 3-4 week for league

rioSanto Santo 48, Roscoe 0 — DIllan Branham ran for 122 yards and two touchdowns and Rylan Griffith passed for 121 yards and one TD and ran for another score to lead the Wildcats to a shutout win over the Plowboys.

Erik Montes, Colt Bridges and Jaxon Rice also had rushing scores for Santo, while River Lewis hauled in a 50-yard touchdown pass.

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